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Help! I’ve Inherited a Family Heirloom – but I Need Cash!

So you were handed down a beautiful diamond engagement ring that originally crossed the Atlantic with your great grandfather on a freight ship at the turn of the 20th century. Or maybe your zany aunt just gave you a big diamond ring for graduating an online course in 3-D computer animation. It doesn’t matter. The point is, you now have a large diamond ring in your possession, given to you by a loved one. The only problem is, you are broke.

Well you just got lucky.

There is a way that you can hold on to the ring that you were given AND sell your diamond for a maximum profit. But “How?” you say. “What manner of sorcery are you speaking of?” Fret not, curious ones. Let Diamond Lighthouse walk you through it.

The most important part of any ring (from an aesthetic perspective) is the shape, meaning what it looks like. The technical term for the actual object that the stone fits into is the “mounting,” but most people refer to this as the “setting” (which ‘technically’ is inaccurate, as the “setting” is the physical act of securing a stone into a mounting). But we’re not here to argue over semantics: we’re here to get you some serious cash, while retaining your family’s honor. By holding on to the original mounting of any ring, you can preserve its overall integrity. Whether it’s made of gold, silver, platinum or aluminum foil, the mounting is what you really remember about a ring.

Ok, so now what? Now is actually the easy part. You need to pop that diamond (the most valuable part of the ring) out of there so you can sell it. Obviously, though, you can’t do this at home without breaking the whole blessed thing. You need an expert jeweler to do this properly. If you elect to sell your diamond with Diamond Lighthouse, you’ll be pleased to learn that we have some of the best trained jewelers and gemologists in the country working in house. These pros will completely take care of this delicate diamond extraction procedure for you, while you rest assured that your diamond is in gloriously capable hands.

Now the really fun part. At Diamond Lighthouse, we have an amazing network of diamond buyers who will clamor and punch each other in the head to buy your diamond. They make bids, you choose the best offer and BAM: the money is speedily wired to your account. We only take a commission from your sale, so obviously we want you to get the most money for your diamond. A win for all of us. Then we can send your precious ring mounting right back to you.

Now that you’ve been paid like a champ, you’ve got to replace the gaping hole in that ring of yours (unless you want to walk around with it naked like that, which is your bizarre prerogative.) Here’s where it gets really interesting. You can either find a stone that mimics the diamond you removed or go in a totally different direction. The easiest and most cost effective way to achieve the former is to slap a cubic zirconium in there. If you just ignore the “stigma” (that was undoubtedly created by diamond industry marketing people) attached to these gorgeous, glittering (super inexpensive!) stones, you will see that they look almost exactly like diamonds. Seriously, let’s just be real here for a minute: odds are you can’t tell the difference.

If you want to spend a little more of the dough you’ve just acquired, you have a lot of cool, sparkly options as well. Check out our list of diamond-alternative-stones here (link to Alternative Stones blog). Maybe you want to replace Granny’s boring old clear diamond with a bright pink amethyst or a luminous opal. Get creative. The sparkling sky’s the limit.

We hope that you choose whatever method suits you best in maintaining your cherished ring’s purity, while you simultaneously make legit bank. Diamond Lighthouse is here to light up your life and get you paid. Find out more!